American Tobacco Co. v. United States

In American Tobacco Co. v. United States, 328 U.S. 781 (1946), individual and corporate defendants were convicted, inter alia, of conspiracy to monopolize and monopolization, both made criminal by 2. They were sentenced to a fine of $5,000, the maximum statutory penalty, on each of the counts. The Supreme Court affirmed these convictions on the basis of our past decisions in this field of law. 328 U.S., at 788-789. To dislodge such conventional consequences in the outlawing of two disparate offenses, conspiracy and substantive conduct, and effectuate a reversal of the settled interpretation we pronounced in American Tobacco would require specific language to the contrary.